The prevalence of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 more than doubled in the past 20 years, going from 6.5% in 1980 to 17.0% in 2007. The rate among adolescents aged 12 to 19 more than tripled, increasing from 5% to 17.6%.1 Obesity is the result of caloric imbalance (too few calories expended for the amount of calories consumed) and is mediated by genetics and health.2 An estimated 61% of obese young people have at least one additional risk factor for heart disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure.3 In addition, children who are obese are at greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem.2,4 Obese young people are more likely than children of normal weight to become overweight or obese adults, and therefore more at risk for associated adult health problems, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.4 Healthy lifestyle habits, including healthy eating and physical activity, can lower the risk of becoming obese and developing related diseases.
Childhood obesity Source
Causes of Childhood Obesity,As with adult-onset obesity, childhood obesity has multiple causes centering around an imbalance between energy in (calories obtained from food) and energy out (calories expended in the basal metabolic rate and physical activity). Childhood obesity most likely results from an interaction of nutritional, psychological, familial, and physiological factors.The Family,The risk of becoming obese is greatest among children who have two obese parents (Dietz, 1983). This may be due to powerful genetic factors or to parental modeling of both eating and exercise behaviors, indirectly affecting the child’’s energy balance. One half of parents of elementary school children never exercise vigorously.Low-energy Expenditure ,The average American child spends several hours each day watching television; time which in previous years might have been devoted to physical pursuits. Obesity is greater among children and adolescents who frequently watch television (Dietz & Gortmaker, 1985), not only because little energy is expended while viewing but also because of concurrent consumption of high-calorie snacks. Only about one-third of elementary children have daily physical education, and fewer than one-fifth have extracurricular physical activity programs at their schools.
Since not all children who eat non-nutritious foods, watch several hours of television daily, and are relatively inactive develop obesity, the search continues for alternative causes. Heredity has recently been shown to influence fatness, regional fat distribution, and response to overfeeding (Bouchard et al., 1990). In addition, infants born to overweight mothers have been found to be less active and to gain more weight by age three months when compared with infants of normal weight mothers, suggesting a possible inborn drive to conserve energy.
Treatment of Childhood Obesity
Obesity treatment programs for children and adolescents rarely have weight loss as a goal. Rather, the aim is to slow or halt weight gain so the child will grow into his or her body weight over a period of months to years. Dietz (1983) estimates that for every 20 percent excess of ideal body weight, the child will need one and one-half years of weight maintenance to attain ideal body weight.Early and appropriate intervention is particularly valuable. There is considerable evidence that childhood eating and exercise habits are more easily modified than adult habits (Wolf, Cohen, Rosenfeld, 1985).
Three forms of intervention include:1. Physical Activity.Adopting a formal exercise program, or simply becoming more active, is valuable to burn fat, increase energy expenditure, and maintain lost weight. Most studies of children have not shown exercise to be a successful strategy for weight loss unless coupled with another intervention, such as nutrition education or behavior modification (Wolf et al., 1985). However, exercise has additional health benefits. Even when children’’s body weight and fatness did not change following 50 minutes of aerobic exercise three times per week, blood lipid profiles and blood pressure did improve (Becque, Katch, Rocchini, Marks, & Moorehead, 1988).2. Diet Management.Fasting or extreme caloric restriction is not advisable for children. Not only is this approach psychologically stressful, but it may adversely affect growth and the child’’s perception of “normal” eating. Balanced diets with moderate caloric restriction, especially reduced dietary fat, have been used successfully in treating obesity (Dietz, 1983). Nutrition education may be necessary. Diet management coupled with exercise is an effective treatment for childhood obesity (Wolf et al., 1985).
3. Behavior Modification,Many behavioral strategies used with adults have been successfully applied to children and adolescents: self-monitoring and recording food intake and physical activity, slowing the rate of eating, limiting the time and place of eating, and using rewards and incentives for desirable behaviors. Particularly effective are behaviorally based treatments that include parents (Epstein et al., 1987). Graves, Meyers, and Clark (1988) used problem-solving exercises in a parent-child behavioral program and found children in the problem-solving group, but not those in the behavioral treatment-only group, significantly reduced percent overweight and maintained reduced weight for six months. Problem-solving training involved identifying possible weight-control problems and, as a group, discussing solutions.
Prevention of Childhood Obesity
Obesity is easier to prevent than to treat, and prevention focuses in large measure on parent education. In infancy, parent education should center on promotion of breastfeeding, recognition of signals of satiety, and delayed introduction of solid foods. In early childhood, education should include proper nutrition, selection of low-fat snacks, good exercise/activity habits, and monitoring of television viewing. In cases where preventive measures cannot totally overcome the influence of hereditary factors, parent education should focus on building self-esteem and address psychological issues.Easy Ways to Prevent Overeating,These tips will help you feel fuller longer and curb cravings. Give them a try, and you could prevent overeating before you have even had the chance to say, “I couldn”t eat another bite”!Don’t skimp during the day to “save” calories for later on in the evening. No matter how “in control” you feel during the day, you”re likely to become overly hungry by evening, which is a sure-fire way to give in to overeating. And above all, don”t skip any meals to reserve calories for another; it almost always backfires.Eat breakfast every morning. Doing so keeps your blood sugar stable — which helps keep cravings at bay — and energy levels high (we tend to eat more when feeling sluggish). In fact, studies have shown that people who eat breakfast tend to be at a healthier weight than those of us who skip it.Drinking plenty of water throughout the day as well as eating water-rich fruits such as melon or oranges will help you feel sated throughout the day. Additionally, thirst is easily confused with hunger so staying well-hydrated may prevent you from eating when you”re not actually feeling true hunger.
Get enough sleep. Without even realizing it, we tend to eat more when we”re tired; it’’s a way to “perk” ourselves up. While eating something high in carbs will give you a burst of energy, it will soon fade away. Feeling well-rested may help keep that “afternoon slump” at bay (and you away from the vending machine).Eat on a regular schedule. Eating regularly will keep you from getting too hungry to stay in control of what — and how much — you eat. You should never go longer than five hours without eating; ideally, you should have something every three hours or so. This can be accomplished by incorporating healthful snacks into your day or by eating several mini-meals instead of three large ones.More Weight Loss Quick Tips.
